A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
May 16, 2007
2. Supply
County to study low river flows; Supervisors approve three-year assessment of effects of reducing water into
Redwood Valley fears critical water shortage - Ukiah Daily Journal
AG SUPPLY ISSUES:
Farmers, vintners cool to prospect of recycled water for irrigation - Santa Rosa Press Democrat
County to study low river flows; Supervisors approve three-year assessment of effects of reducing water into
Santa Rosa Press Democrat – 5/16/07
By Bleys Rose, staff writer
Water Agency officials said it would be an extensive study examining potential effects on residents and businesses, ranchers and grape growers, fish habitat and recreation.
"Conditions on the
With Mike Reilly, the supervisor whose west county district encompasses the lower
The county Water Agency last week received temporary authority to reduce river flows this summer as a result of low rainfall and reduced amounts available from the upstream Potter Valley Project reservoir. Water Agency officials contend that so much has changed in the two decades since water rights formulas were drafted that new standards, or "trigger points," are necessary.
Paul Kelley, the north county supervisor who represents the upper
Water Agency officials say state water rights formulas went into effect long before extension of federal protections for three endangered fish, new water reductions from the
But Reilly sharply disagreed with his colleagues, saying the process for applying to the state Water Resources Control Board for temporary flow reductions had worked well in recent years so there's no need for permanent reductions.
"It is not broken. I am not clear what the emergency is this time," Reilly said. "It is an artificial drought."
During a brief public hearing on whether the county should perform an environmental review, leaders from the Sierra Club, Russian River Keeper and Russian River Watershed Protection said they oppose giving the Water Agency permanent low-flow authority.
Don McEnhill of Russian River Keeper said he saw no data to support contentions that fish habitat would be protected with lower flows.
No representatives of Russian River-area businesses that would be affected by lower river levels testified at the hearing, although Reilly said "this is an area of high concern in my community."
Supervisors accepted the Water Agency's proposal to convene meetings this summer of groups with interests in river flows. Those sessions are steps toward a draft environmental review that is scheduled for completion in 2011, Mai said.
"This will not be a quick process. It will take two to three years," she said.
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070516/NEWS/705160328/1033/NEWS01
Ukiah Daily Journal – 5/15/07
By Katie Mintz, staff writer
From Mendocino to
The Redwood Valley County Water District, the only agency that gets its water directly from that lake that feeds the river, projects that without conservation and a little luck, by August it may no longer be able to provide water to the approximate 3,500 residents of Redwood Valley or the 4,000 acres of grapes grown there.
"We'll suffer first and worst because we have the only intake that's directly out of the
Levels in
Currently, the lake is holding approximately 65,000 acre-feet of water -- about 20,000 acre-feet less than it would have been had the Potter Valley Project flow not been reduced -- and Koehler said the outlook is not great.
"If everything goes right, we're going to worry a lot," Koehler said. "If anything goes wrong, we're out of water."
He estimates that if storage gets down to 24,000 acre-feet, the district's pump station on the western
At present, the RVCWD is asking for immediate voluntary conservation of 10-15 percent from its customers to keep water in the lake. To help the effort, the district will soon distribute 1,500 water conservation kits that'll include low-flow shower heads and faucet diffusers, as well as other water-saving measures, to its customers free of charge.
Many other water agencies along the
Before cut-back was authorized, the SCWA had predicted that storage in
"It's going to take some real cooperative planning and implementing all the way down the line in order to make things work," John Growth, director of the RVCWD, said.
If voluntary conservation does not work, the RVCWD will be prepared to take action. On Thursday evening, at its regularly scheduled board meeting, the district will discuss with its constituents provisions for an ordinance that would make conservation mandatory should the need arise.
"We can conceive of, as the lake falls, increasing the level of conservation, making it mandatory," Koehler said. "At some point, if the lake falls low enough, we're going to start with a tiered structure of who gets cut off completely."
The challenge, he said, will be working to balance the needs of all customers.
"The only way we can get through this is to share the pain," Koehler said. "We can't place the burden entirely on any one class or customer."
Because
Every winter, until April 15, water must be incrementally released from the lake to prevent flooding.
Though Koehler said the lake contains more than enough water for the district in the wetter, winter months, since 1988, the RVCWD has had a moratorium on providing new water hook-ups because of a court ruling that found the lake was not a reliable water source.
In this way, Donald Butow, chairman of the RVCWD Board of Directors, said the looming water shortage might do some good.
"In one respect, this is really a blessing," Butow said. "Over the last 20 years, 30 years, even 50 years, the (
For more information about Redwood Valley County Water District and conservation, visit the district's Web site, www.rvcwd.org. #
http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/local/ci_5900822
AG SUPPLY ISSUES:
Farmers, vintners cool to prospect of recycled water for irrigation
Santa Rosa Press Democrat – 5/16/07
By Bleys Rose, staff writer
Farmers, vintners, environmentalists and north
During a 90-minute public hearing on the north county water recycling project, supervisors heard vineyard operators say they are firmly opposed to putting recycled water on their grapes and farmers say they feared it would damage groundwater quality.
Environmental group leaders said they welcome the idea of recycled wastewater, but fear that technology isn't good enough to assure the public on water quality.
Katie Murphy, vice-president of the Alexander Valley Association, said any hint of tainted wastewater being spread on the county's foremost cash crop would send the local economy into a tailspin.
"I am worried that there is a huge backlash on recycled water on our grapes," Murphy said. "I fear negative publicity and that could linger over our wine industry for a long time."
Murphy's comments reflected opinions of many farmers, ranchers and vintners at the public hearing, although Clos du Bois executive Keith Horn said he represented 20 grape growers in the Coalition for Sustainable Agriculture who would welcome recycled, highly treated wastewater.
"The water quality issues can be overcome," Horn said.
The public hearing was one of the last opportunities for comment on the North Sonoma County Agricultural Reuse Project that would create 19 reservoirs and 112 miles of pipeline through the Dry Creek, Alexander and
Treated wastewater would come from
"
The water reuse project is part of the Water Agency's effort to convince state regulators that the county is making best use of current supply and, therefore, should gain approval for more water from
Water Agency officials say the massive water project would ensure long-term supplies for agriculture, reduce reliance on groundwater, reduce water drawn out of Dry Creek and leave water in reservoirs for management of endangered fish.
David Cuneo, the project environmental review specialist, said state water quality and health standards allow use of highly treated wastewater on crops, adding "but we do recognize it is an ongoing debate."
Leaders of environmental groups such as Russian River Keeper, the Sierra Club and the Russian River Watershed Protection Committee said using recycled wastewater is a laudable goal, but they could not support the project because there's not enough evidence that treatment plants filter out chemical compounds that could appear in crops and groundwater.
"It is not a high enough quality to pursue this project," said Don McEnhill of Russian River Keeper.
However, Cynthia Murray, president of the North Bay Leadership Council, a business group, said agriculture elsewhere in
"We are way behind the curve on use of recycled water,"
The Water Agency is accepting written comment on the draft environmental review until Friday. The full 603-page report is available at www.sonomacountywater.org. Supervisors expect to get the final environmental review document back for review this summer along with a financial analysis of the project costs. #
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070516/NEWS/705160349/1033/NEWS01
By Joyce Lobeck, staff writer
Since the "on" switch was flipped for a 90-day demonstration run of the Yuma Desalting Plant, a number of visitors have shown up at the doorstep wanting a tour.
They've come from around the nation and around the world, said U.S. Bureau of Reclamation public relations official Jack Simes, who has been kept busy as a tour guide of the 60-acre facility west of
The latest was the Colorado River Citizens' Forum, which serves as a link between the public and the International Boundary and Water Commission.
After hearing a presentation about the desalting plant during a meeting Tuesday afternoon, several members of the forum wanted to see the facility for themselves.
The desalting plant, once the largest in the world and still the largest in the U.S., was built at a cost of $250 million in the 1980s and early 1990s, said Jim Cherry, head of the Yuma-area USBR office. It was meant to reduce salt in water the
The plant only ran for about nine months, then was shut after the 1993
But there's been pressure to start up the plant as drought continues to grip the Southwest while population growth is increasing demand for water.
After 1-1/2 decades on standby, however, there were questions about whether the plant could still function and at what cost, Cherry said. The demonstration of 10 percent of the plant's capacity, begun March 1 and running until May 31, is proving it can - more efficiently and cheaper than projected with improved technology that has been incorporated into the plant over the years.
It's also drawn considerable interest. International visitors since March 1 have included delegations from
Closer to home, visitors have come from Yuma County Water Users Association, Yuma Mesa Irrigation District, city of
The plant has also drawn media attention from the New York Times,
Just this week, Jean Simon Gagne, a journalist with a major newspaper in
At the end of the demonstration, Cherry said he expects the trial run will have returned 1 billion gallons of water to the
At this time, there are no plans to continue to operate the plant, nor is there funding to do so, he said.
"The plant has run well," he said. "The challenge now is how the plant fits into the water supply picture for the lower
http://www.yumasun.com/news/water_34036___article.html/plant_yuma.html
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